Coastal Walking Improves Sleep, Mood and Alertness

Sleep, mood and coastal walking come together perfectly in Devon.
Research commissioned by the National Trust has found that walking, and coastal walking in particular, can significantly increase sleep quantity and quality.

A total of 109 participants were recruited for the study. Ages ranged from 21 to 82 years. Measures of mood and sleep quality were recorded using a questionnaire, both before and after either a coastal or an inland walk. The coast was walked by 54 participants, whilst 55 walked inland. The average walk across was 7.24 miles long and lasted three hours and 40 minutes.

Across coastal and inland walkers combined, sleep quality significantly improved the night after a walk in comparison to the night before the walk. This did not vary significantly between the two groups, although there was a slight trend towards greater sleep quality amongst coastal walkers. Alertness on waking the next morning displayed the same characteristics, with coastal walking again having a slight advantage. The average number of night time wakings was significantly reduced after a walk, across both groups. As regards sleep quantity, coastal walkers slept on average 47 minutes longer after a walk compared to the previous night, whereas the figure for inland walkers was 12 minutes. Both groups felt significantly happier and more calm after their walks, with a sense of reflection, freedom and escape being commonly reported.

(Sleep, Mood and Coastal Walking: A Report Prepared for the National Trust by Eleanor Ratcliffe, August 2015.)

Author: Robin Costello

I offer traditional Chinese acupuncture in Exeter, from a tranquil clinic a mile from the city centre, and next to the University of Exeter. I graduated originally from the London School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine’s 3 year full time Acupuncture Diploma (DipAc) course. I am on the practitioners register of the British Acupuncture Council (MBAcC), a regulatory and professional body with an entry standard of a full three year undergraduate degree level training. I have worked in a hospital in south west China, deepening my knowledge and using acupuncture and Chinese massage (tuina) as the treatment of choice in its country of origin. I have taught Chinese medicine in colleges, the NHS and at university level. I also practise Qi Gong, and Chinese dietary therapy, that is the medicinal use of ordinary foods, chosen to help achieve particular therapeutic effects in different individuals.